"We have been building our pool all along. We hope when we go live [today], I anticipate we will hit that number," she said. "But if we don't, we will continue recruiting aggressively after that."

Kelly proposed to hit that number when representatives pitched their services to the School Board in October, showing their ability to fill 99 percent of classrooms needing substitute teachers in Duval and Orange counties as proof that it's possible.

For years, Polk schools have had a difficult time filling classrooms with substitutes when the primary teachers were absent, partly because of the large, rural geographic nature of the county.

This year, the district filled 84.3 percent of empty classrooms, but individual schools' fill rates were as low as 58 percent, and many schools on the outskirts of the county were below 70 percent.

Kelly has held several meetings for current School District substitutes to learn about changes under Kelly and fill out paperwork for the transition.

So far, 83 percent of current substitutes have signed on to transfer to Kelly Educational Services, Archambault said.

She said Kelly will continue to hold sessions for several more weeks to help those who haven't had a chance to fill out transition paperwork.

Kelly has been recruiting every day to increase the pool of substitutes and will continue to aggressively recruit new substitutes, she said.

For substitutes who worked for the School District, very little will change under Kelly.

Administrators, teachers and substitutes still will use Automated Substitute Placement and Absence Management, or Aesop, which the district has used since 2010 to request, track and place subs.

Any assignments already in place in Aesop won't change, and the only thing that will change for School District substitutes is the signature on the paycheck, said Martin Young, director of human capital management for the School District.

However, with Kelly, those checks will come more frequently — once a week instead of every other week under the School District.

And because Kelly will become substitutes' employer, retiring teachers will be able to start subbing imme­diately.

Currently, the state requires retiring teachers to sit out six months, and if they come back to the district before a year passes, their retirement benefits are penal­ized.

Also, Kelly will provide health insurance to all substitutes who work more than 30 hours a week, something the School District does not offer. Plus, Kelly offers 401(k) plans, free software training and online educa­-tion courses, and substitutes can qualify for state and national sub­stitute of the year honors, Archambault said.

New substitutes will be required to work two Mondays and two Fridays every 45 days to stay employed with Kelly.

Those transitioning from the School District will be grandfathered in and won't have to meet those requirements, Archambault said.

There also will be no change in compensation under Kelly, which for some longtime substitutes is enough to turn them away.

Jay Whitworth, 71, who substitutes at two high schools in Haines City and at Ridge Career Center, said after nine years without raises, he is disappointed that Kelly won't be giving raises either.

"I don't want to continue to get up that early and keep doing a job that pays that little," he said.

Substitutes in Polk County haven't gotten a raise since their pay went from $10 an hour to $10.67 an hour for a 7.5-hour day in 2005.

At least for now, that won't change under Kelly, Archambault said.

DISTRICT RELIEF

The School District's human capital management department has seen drastic cuts in personnel over the past several years.

Martin Young, who has been director of that department for the past two years, said it was once a 15-person department.

Now there are six people in it who primarily deal with teacher certification, evaluations and recruiting. They are tasked with making sure all in Polk schools are adequately qualified for their jobs, he said.

As they lost positions, Young said, the department staff split up the respon­sibility of managing and dealing with substitute issues among them.

"We've done the best we can. I don't want to downplay that. Sometimes our people spend more than half their day on subs," he said.

Now, the department staff will be able to pay more attention to details on certi­fication and evaluation, he said.

"It'll definitely help. Our main focus is doing the best job we can do. We want to have the best people in the best places because it all affects students in the classrooms," he said.

Lois Schuck, senior coordinator for teacher certification and substitute management, will act as a liaison between the school district and Kelly, Young said.

"We won't ever get away from calls. We had 1,300 subs who will still know to call us. We will still provide some assistance, but most of the time may have to forward people to Kelly."

Archambault said Kelly has a toll-free number to call for substitutes with any questions. She said she encourages them to call her office, which is in Lakeland, or visit Kelly's Polk-specific website for assistance.

Both Archambault and Young said they have heard entirely positive feedback about the changes so far.

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